Chișinău

Following a maintenance program in Chişinău, the aircraft was ferried back to Khartoum via Antalya. On board were four passengers, four crew members and a load consisting of 2 tons of oil and various equipments. Shortly after takeoff, while in initial climb, the crew informed ATC about the failure of the transponder and was cleared for an immediate return. Too low on final approach, the aircraft struck the ILS antenna and crashed in a field located 200 metres short of runway, bursting into flames. All 8 occupants, among them 4 technicians, were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed by a post crash fire.

The airplane departed Voronezh Airport at 1254LT on the last leg of a flight from Chelyabinsk to Kishinev, Moldavia, carrying 88 passengers and a crew of six. At 1317LT, the airplane entered the Kharkiv ARTCC at an altitude of 8,400 meters. The crew requested several times the permission to climb to 9,600 meters but this was denied due to heavy traffic. Eight minutes later, a second Aeroflot Tupolev TU-134AK entered the same ARTCC at an altitude of 5,700 meters. Registered CCCP-65735, it was completing flight SU7880 from Tashkent to Minsk with an intermediate stop in Donetsk. On board were 77 passengers and a crew of seven, among them all staff from the Pakhtakor Tashkent Football Team who should play against the Dynamo Minsk Team in two days. The crew of the second TU-134 was first cleared to climb to 7,200 meters and later to 8,400 meters. The air traffic controller miscalculated the distance and timing between both aircraft. About 90 seconds later, at an altitude at 8,400 meters but on crossing airways, both airplanes collided at an angle of 95° from each other. The right wing of CCCP-65735 struck the cockpit of CCCP-65816. Both aircraft spiralled to the ground, partially disintegrated in the air and eventually crashed in fields located around the villages of Kurilovka, Nikolaevka and Elizavetovka, about 35 km northwest of Dnipropetrovsk. Debris were found on a large area and none of the 178 occupants survived the accident.

Crashed upon landing at Chișinău Airport. There were no casualties.

While cruising at an altitude of 5,400 meters on a flight from Vinnitsa to Simferopol, the crew informed ATC that smoke spread in the cabin and was cleared to divert to Chișinău Airport. Few minutes later, the engine number four caught fire. The crew feathered its propeller when the oil pressure dropped and the propeller left the feather mode. Unable to maintain the prescribed altitude, the captain elected to make an emergency landing. The airplane belly landed in a field located 38 km north of Chișinău Airport and came to rest. The navigator, the radio operator, one flight attendant and 19 passengers were slightly injured while a passenger while killed. All other occupants escaped uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed.

The crew (seven pilots under supervision) and four instructors, were completing several training flight at Chișinău Airport. Following several manoeuvres, the crew initiated a new approach with both engines n°3 & 4 out of service. On final, the airplane banked left, lost height and crashed in a huge explosion few km short of runway threshold. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 11 crew members were killed.

En route from Chisinau to Kiev, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with low visibility due to thick fog. In such conditions, and apparently to establish a visual contact with the ground, the captain decided to reduce his altitude when the aircraft hit the slope of a ravine and crashed in a field 460 meters further on. The aircraft was destroyed and all 16 occupants were killed.